Truman Garcia Capote (pronounced /ˈtruːmən kəˈpoʊti/; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984), born Truman Streckfus Persons, was an American writer, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and In Cold Blood (1965), which he labeled a "nonfiction novel". At least 20 films and television dramas have been produced from Capote novels, stories and screenplays. In Cold Blood turned out to be a milestone in popular culture, being often credited with pioneering the "true crime" genre of nonfiction. From the time of its publication, its factuality and Capote's journalistic integrity have been called into question, and this has continued in the decades since his death.

Rising above a troubled childhood characterized by divorce, a long absence from his mother, and multiple migrations, he discovered his calling by the age of eleven and for the rest of his childhood honed his craft. As a professional writer, Capote started out as a composer of short stories. The critical success of one story, "Miriam" (1945) attracted the attention of the publisher Bennett Cerf, resulting in a contract with Random House to write a novel. The result was Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948). He attained instant celebrity as a result of the portrait photo which was used in promoting this first novel: in it he gazes smolderingly into the camera while reclining. He was invited to be a screenwriter. In the 1950s, his greatest success was a novella, Breakfast at Tiffany's, which was made into a very popular film starring Audrey Hepburn in the role of Holly Golightly. Capote's earned the most fame with In Cold Blood (1965), a journalistic work about the murder of four members of a Kansas farm family in their home, a book Capote spent four years writing. It was the peak of his career, although it was not his final book. In the 1970s, he maintained his celebrity by appearing on television talk shows. He spent years "on the skids" as an alcoholic.

Truman Capote was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of 17-year-old Lillie Mae (née Faulk) and Archulus Persons, who was a salesman. When he was four, his parents divorced, and he was sent to Monroeville, Alabama, where for the next four to five years he was raised by his mother's relatives. He formed a fast bond with his mother's distant relative, Nanny Rumbley Faulk, whom Truman called 'Sook'. "Her face is remarkable—not unlike Lincoln's, craggy like that, and tinted by sun and wind," is how Capote described Sook in "A Christmas Memory". In Monroeville, he was a neighbor and friend of Harper Lee, who grew up to write To Kill a Mockingbird (with the character Dill based on Truman).